The Mayo Clinic Diet blog

Get moving and improve your health

We all know it's important to be physically active. However, knowing and doing are 2 different things and putting that into practice in our daily lives can be challenging.

Physical activity can be divided up into exercise and activities throughout our daily lives. As discussed in our book "The Mayo Clinic Diet", any activity is good activity. Whether it's exercise, walking, taking the stairs, whatever — it's all good. It helps us burn calories, decrease our health risks, and feel better along with many other benefits.

Some recent studies have provided us with new information about the health risks of being sedentary. One study ("Journal of the American College of Cardiology", Jan. 18, 2011) totaled up all the time that people spent sitting while watching television, working on a computer, etc, over a period of years. In this study and others, the people who sat the most had the highest risk of heart disease and dying — a pretty important outcome.

What was most fascinating, however, was that this was true regardless of how much exercise someone did. In other words, even among people who exercised, those who sat the longest had higher mortality.

What does this mean? Let's say 2 people exercise vigorously 5 days per week for 30 minutes per session; a good amount of exercise by anyone's standards. One of these people has a desk job and sits most of the day. The other one is in sales and is on their feet most of the day. According to these new studies, the person who is on their feet most of the day has fewer health risks even though they both exercise the same amount.

We all know we should try to be active some of the time. But this new information suggests we should also try to not be sedentary the rest of the time. And while they sound the same, technically they aren't. How can we do this?

Well, certainly continue to exercise. If you have a desk job, consider taking frequent breaks to stand and move around. When talking on your cell phone, for example, stand up and move about. If you have to meet with someone, consider a walking meeting.

Perhaps the most important thing to do at home is not sit in front of the television for hours on end. Standing and minimally moving around burns 2 1/2 times more calories than sitting. As I'm typing this, I'm getting used to standing at my desk (and thinking about how I can raise it higher!). Awareness is the first step in solving any problem. Realize it's important to both move and not sit around. Both of these strategies will help burn calories, manage weight, and improve health. Please share your ideas.

I see a blog from June 27 on a stand up desk. I'm wondering what kind of treadmill desk Dr. Levine would suggest. I will be working from home soon and need to lose weight. I can't think of a better way to do it than walk while i work. Please advise. Thanks.

Nancy

June 27, 2012 5:52 p.m.

Ikea makes a desk, the Fredrik, with a working surface that can be set up at different heights - mine is set at 42 inches or 106 cm, with a keyboard tray (the Sommer) screwed to the desk bottom. Perfect height for a 5' 7&quot; (170 cm) person to work standing all day.

Jim

September 8, 2011 9:44 a.m.

I agree people who has jobs that uses more muscles have more excersise therefor they have lower health risks

Hakeem

August 13, 2011 7:50 p.m.

very very informative post umm i dunt have words and even dunt have question just read out your post and its really great
weight loss help

Nouman

July 9, 2011 11:39 p.m.

I have struggled myself for years with fatness. I used to sleep 4-5 hours, I had large dinners, drank a lot of sodas. Only when I was too fat to fit in my pants got to a strict diet, I could lose some weight, and within 3 to 6 month I got the weight back and may be a year later I was heavier. What finally help me was to learn what food to avoid, I also learnt to eat small portions and I finally got the habit to do exercise 5 times per week. The hardest habit was to sleep 7 hour every night. This really helped me, I felt better in the morning, I had less hunger and I had more energy. I still struggle with the portions and I miss burritos, but my health is my top priority. I'm paying the price of a good health and it feels great. My kids are small and they need a healthy father. burn belly fat

Martin

June 26, 2011 7:01 p.m.

100% right! An other trick: Get a set of small weights and start lifting them while watching TV. Muscles burn calories up to 5 times faster than just walking. Or even better if walk holding these dumbbells.

Veneta

June 26, 2011 9:53 a.m.

@Tubby, You can really make a difference just in what you eat. Dont fall for any of the weight loss pills. This is very harmful. I eat 4 to 5 times every day. I work outside and used to be 60lbs. over weight. Now I eat more and weigh less. It does not matter where you work. Its all up to what you eat. I doubt that everyone in your work is over weight. Plan your meals and snacks for the day.

David

June 25, 2011 10:42 p.m.

I have desk job and sit for 8 hours per day churning out accounting work. I am always hungry and am obese as a result of feeding that hunger. I feel that if I could just suppress my hunger cravings I could lose a little weight, then I could exercise. I found this article on weight loss pill for women and would value you opinion. I totally need some sort of kick start. Can you recommend something?

Tubby

June 24, 2011 10:50 a.m.

About 2 years ago I started standing at my computer for at least part of my day. I do have an adjustable key board &amp; can raise my monitor so it is not unconfortable to stan. At first I could only stand for about 2 hours, then needed to sit again for a while, but gradually I have increased this to a point where I now stand for the majority of my day if not the whole 8 hours. Feel great &amp; I think it has helped in my weight loss too.

Pat

June 15, 2011 12:49 p.m.

As you mentioned in the above one, Consider talking frequent breaks to stand. Can you tell me the time interval for the frequent breaks ? Thanks in advance.

Balu

June 14, 2011 1:46 p.m.

Sitting in front of the TV may be bad but sitting in front of your desk for hours on end is also a bad idea!

Jamie

June 14, 2011 10:16 a.m.

What can one do about weight gain from certain drugs? Many pain-relief medications have weight gain as a side effect. Many patients with chronic pain (CRPS, for example) are unable to do much exercise, and weight gain, even when on weight reduction programs (weight watchers and others) is a big problem. Is there a solution to weight gain as a side effect of medicine? Thank you.

Judy

June 6, 2011 4:55 p.m.

Are there any Mayo Clinic Diet mobile device applications available to replace the hard copy journal? If not, are there any plans to create one? I would find this very helpful - to be able to track your food/servings on the go!

natalie

June 3, 2011 12:01 p.m.

I use old textbooks and reams of paper to raise the computer monitor and keyboard higher, since my company will provide adjustable sit/stand workstations only if a health care provider says it’s necessary. Hope more companies act soon on the growing research in this area. I’ve been standing at work most of the time for over two years and have a lot more energy now.

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